Site Archive

Esters Levon and Haley Oliver

Food Safety Innovation Lab (FSIL) launches MSI-led partnerships for global food safety research

April 27, 2022

The projects are the culmination of a competitive Request for Applications (RFA) process that recruited experts at MSIs to address gaps in food safety research in Africa and Asia. Officially designated by the U.S. Department of Education, MSIs include colleges and universities that enroll a significant percentage of Alaskan Native, Asian American, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Native American Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian students.

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woman in femi lab

Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute to serve as hub for product commercialization

April 12, 2022

Bringing a food or beverage from an idea to commercialization can involve a wide range of steps, but through the Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute (FEMI) that could become a simpler process.

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Ben Paxson

Behind the Research: Ben Paxson

March 7, 2022

Ben Paxson credits his fellow academic IT specialists in the College of Agriculture with strengthening research in the college. “The things that we do every day help move emerging technology closer to our end users,” he explains. “At the same time we are striving to reduce duplication of effort by identifying and moving IT services centrally, which benefits us all.”

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Anbuhkani “Connie” Muniandy

Student’s research reduces food waste by improving use-by dates

June 3, 2021

Anbuhkani “Connie” Muniandy’s curiosity about food developed in her family’s kitchen in her small hometown of Simpang Renggam, Malaysia. While helping her mother prepare meals, she began to wonder why specific ingredient combinations had different outcomes.

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Food Science Officers

Purdue food science video scavenger hunt welcomes new majors

October 27, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented large hurdles to overcome, particularly for Purdue’s new incoming students. Allie Kingery, the department’s undergraduate academic adviser, approached the food science club officers with the idea of making a Philip E. Nelson Hall Scavenger Hunt video for the department’s freshmen seminar class. Purdue’s Food Science Club jumped at the opportunity to help. The club members remembered having the scavenger hunt in the beginning weeks of their freshmen year and how fun it was to explore the building.

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Hydroponic plants

Purdue study addresses environmental, economic impacts of hydroponic, aquaponics systems

October 22, 2020
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A growing piece of ancient history in your kitchen

October 19, 2020

Want to cook like the ancient Egyptians? You don’t need a fancy cookbook or the ability to read hieroglyphics, all you really need is a sourdough starter.

Sourdough starters’ first recorded use harkens back to ancient Egypt, circa 1500 B.C., although many historians posit similar culinary devices were used as early as Neolithic times. The ability to bake bread with a complex flavor and soft interior revolutionized the Egyptian kitchen. Several thousand years later, sourdough is having another moment.

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Feng and flour

Purdue researcher to study food safety in low-moisture food staples

July 16, 2020

Low-moisture products, such as flour, dried fruit and nuts, are often perceived as safe from food pathogens in consumer’s eyes despite recent bacteria outbreaks. Like other raw food commodities, these low-moisture food products are at risk for foodborne bacteria if there isn’t a “kill step” or heating process to eradicate bacteria during harvest or processing.

“Historically consumers don’t think about low moisture or dry foods having food safety issues. We want to raise awareness among the public about how they can properly handle these food products and reduce the risk,” said Yaohua Feng, assistant professor of food science at Purdue University.

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Athletes on banner

Six agriculture students named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars

July 14, 2020

Six student-athletes from Purdue University’s College of Agriculture have earned the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award for the 2019-2020 academic year. Each year, the honor is given to students on varsity rosters who maintain a grade-point average of 3.7 or higher.

Among the honorees, Tessa Sheets ranked in the top 16.5% of Big Ten Distinguished Scholars by achieving a 4.0 GPA.

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Student group picture

Supporting students from Zamorano to Purdue and home again

July 13, 2020

Staff in IPIA and Food Sciences worked behind the scenes this spring to ensure 11 international interns’ well being and repatriation.

Ada Camila Montoya Gomez, a senior in environmental engineering at Zamorano University in Honduras, was deep into three research projects at Purdue this spring when safety concerns around the coronavirus closed the university.

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Researcher hungry to improve healthiness of processed foods

July 2, 2020

“My research is at the intersection of food science and nutrition – creating new foods that impact health,” explained Sarah Corwin, a doctoral candidate in the department of food science. “We are translating science all the way to something that could impact lives.”

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Yogurt Aisle at grocery

Entering its third year, fermentation minor holds major appeal

June 11, 2020

“I remember microbiology being the most intimidating part of food science when I was a student at Purdue,” recalled Allison Kingery, now a senior academic advisor in the department of food science. “I thought microbiology sounded like something we should be trying to prevent. Now I see it through the positive lens of fermentation.

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McCoy under lights in lab

Plant science focus makes Purdue ideal for grad student’s research

March 18, 2020

I love trying to figure out things that nobody knows,” said Rachel McCoy, a doctoral candidate in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture who will defend her dissertation next month.

McCoy’s search for a postdoc is underway as she works toward her goal of becoming a professor at a small university.

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Brandon Hunter smiling in research lab

MANRRS helps groom entrepreneur for life after Purdue

February 26, 2020

“I didn’t want to come to Purdue. I just wanted to get out of the Midwest,” said Brandon Hunter, who grew up in southern Illinois. “I saw myself moving somewhere far away like California, Georgia or Pennsylvania.”

Hunter first heard about the MANRRS-Purdue chapter through Pamala Morris, assistant dean and director of multicultural programs, and Myron McClure, assistant director of student recruitment and retention.

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A handful of crickets that Hall and Liceaga use in their research.

Could crickets offer the next breakthrough in diabetes and hypertension treatments?

February 11, 2020
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Popcorn in a movie theater bucket

What’s under the shell of this popular snack?

February 7, 2020

No country grows or consumes more popcorn than the United States and only one state, Nebraska, produces more popcorn than Indiana. Consequently, it’s surprising that in 2019, only 75,000 of Indiana’s 5 million corn acres contained popcorn.

The hard outer hull of popcorn, called the pericarp, explains why 1.5 percent of the state’s corn pops while none of the rest can.

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Lisa Mauer’s work unravels mysteries of processed foods

July 24, 2019

  By Emma Ea Ambrose Next time you’re at the grocery store you might spare a thought for Lisa Mauer, professor of food science and…

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Here’s how to safely prepare Thanksgiving dinner

November 15, 2018

By Emma Ea Ambrose  Two years ago three people in California died from a foodborne illness they contracted during a Thanksgiving dinner served at their…

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